Well, it's been almost a month, so I thought I'd post an update to let everyone know we made it to Oklahoma. I need to change my Location, I guess!
We are still trying to settle in. The apartment has been difficult for everyone to get used to. Half of this post is going to be ranty, but the other half is an appreciation of our local wildlife.
Rant:
It's cold here. Fifteen degrees last night?! As former Houstonians, we are woefully unprepared in the wardrobe department. As it happens, most of my warmest pieces of clothing are SCA garb, so neighbors definitely think I'm odd when they see me sitting on my patio in my heavy cloak and fur-trimmed Viking hat. I did, though, see someone airing out very nice togos on their patio the other day, so maybe I can be friends with them.
The dog loves this weather, but she's very bored. The apartment is small and there's no yard for her to go bask in. She goes out on the patio frequently, but it's not the same. We've upped walks to four a day, and there's a pet park here at the complex, but.. it's so cold, and I do have to work during the day.
The cat is terrible. Despite all the prep for the move, he was very upset both days of driving. The only thing that calmed him down was me singing Saia's "Cheap Thrills" all the way. I don't know why. No other song; just Cheap Thrills. We did listen to the radio a bit. Turns out he likes 80s Madonna but hates Bryan Adams. *shrugs* He did like his crate.... sort of. He had to stay in it a long time through the move and after we got here and were bringing stuff in from the truck. I left it open in his room afterward, and he was still in it a lot. It took several days for him to transition to pottying in his regular litterbox instead of his makeshift crate one, but thankfully, that's done.
Being in the apartment with him has been a huge adjustment, and it feels like we're jumping through a lot of hoops. He's never been good at letting us sleep at night. He'll cuddle for a bit, cry if I'm not actively petting him, get up, climb the door frames, cuddle, cry, beg for food, attack the blinds, cuddle, cry for everyone to get up, knock over the lamps, beg for food, cuddle, harrass the dog... and so forth until dawn. At the old house, which was two stories, we put him up at night in his own room upstairs. We couldn't hear him and he couldn't really hear us until we were up for the morning. Here, though, he can hear the neighbors and they can hear him, and he's consistently been waking up at 3:30-4:45 to yowl until someone lets him out of his room (we've given him the second bedroom). We've settled into a system of taking turns with someone getting up with himn at 4:00-ish while the other person sleeps until 7:00 and then gets up to take care of him while the first person goes back to sleep until 10:00. I'm not sure if we can keep that up indefinitely.
Appreciation:
Our complex backs up to a wooded area, and we were fortunate enough to get a ground-floor unit on the corner of the building that faces the back. We have a lovely view from our patio. It's nice and quiet back here, too. We see lots of birds, mostly cardinals and bluejays. I'm thinking of putting a pine cone feeder in the little tree just beyond our railing. There's also a farm somewhere back there. I've seen a few chickens and heard a rooster, and I've seen two white horses grazing in a nearby clearing. A neighbors says he sometimes sees up to three deer back there, too.
This morning was the best, though. It was my turn to get up with the cat, and one thing he insists on is patio time. So I put on my cloak and fur hat and took him and the dog out on the patio around 5:00 a.m. We were standing there, being very quiet, and around the corner of the building and through the flower bed trots this little gray fox. He wasn't even really paying attention, just doing his thing (which I suspect is to come sit on our patio in the early mornings. Our cushy patio furniture attracts cats so why not foxes, I guess.) When he noticed us looking at him, he stopped (just barely five feet away from us) and looked at us curiously for a few seconds. And then, as if to say, "Oh... I didn't realize the patio was occupied. I'll just be off, then," he turned and casually trotted into the woods. I'd never seen a wild fox before. It was lovely.
